12 Great Coats to Wear for Fall (and Through Winter)

Adapted from the Fall 2010 Big Black Book, (you can order it — and Esquire — for less than fifteen bucks right here). You can also check out our special preview of the book right here.

Four (Classic) Overcoats:

Used to be — and we're talking 19th century here — that a man in search of a formal overcoat had more options than he could possibly know what to do with: the ulster (with its flowing cape) and the Inverness (with its winged sleeves) were just a few of the more popular (and unbelievably bulky) olde-time favorites. Cut to today: Men still have plenty of options — they're just lighter and more streamlined options than our ancestors would have ever dreamed possible, and the classic overcoat is still a man's best bet for looking properly dressed in more formal situations. The two variations on the classic six-on-two double-breasted overcoat at far left provide some slight definition to the waist, their conservative cuts made more comfortable by the soft hand of wool or cashmere. The chesterfield at right, meanwhile, has a more natural waist, and, thanks to its namesake champion, a well-to-do Regency dandy, it boasts a contrasting velvet collar that adds some spark to an otherwise staid single-breasted coat. And then there's the polo, a coat with a roomy double-breasted cut and patch pockets that began its life swung about the sweaty shoulders of Edwardian polo players. All of the above promise warmth and convey power, and, better still, none of them involve capes.

There is a term in Italian, la bella figura, that captures the natural-born ability of that country's citizens to look at ease no matter what they're wearing. In English we lack an exact translation — "cut a dashing figure" or "cut a good figure" come close — but we do have access to the clothes that help them do it. Take these three-quarter-length, double-breasted, impeccably cut coats from Italian heavyweights Canali, Isaia, and Brunello Cucinelli: The length splits the difference between casual and formal — it's long enough to cover a suit jacket but short enough to allow freedom of movement — and the construction and cut are conservative without being overly constrictive. Throw them on over a formal suit or over a sweater and jeans: You'll look comfortable and confident no matter what you're wearing, the very picture of la bella figura.

The chunky toggles down the front of the duffle coat — which, by the way, you'll be seeing pretty much everywhere this fall — were the result of British naval officers wanting to button up their heavy woolen coats without having to remove their gloves. The four parallel lines of stitching found near the cuffs and hems of covert coats came about because hunters were constantly tearing their coats on the brambles and thorns of hunting grounds. And the woolly lapels of a mackinaw coat — well, who doesn't want that when a frosty wind starts kicking up something fierce? We tell you this not because it makes for nice little backstories — which it does — but because it proves that in style, as in life, a little functionality goes a long way. And no coat embodies the whole necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention ethos better than the mackintosh, the prototypical raincoat introduced in 1824 when a Scottish chemist first began selling his rubberized (and waterproof) cotton creations. One hundred and eighty-six years later, they're still keeping us dry, function being as stylish as ever.

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